To discuss whats happening in the Muslim world and what can we do about it.

Tuesday, 6 January 2015

Muslims of America

"I
converted to Islam sixteen years ago. I am married and have two boys.
My wife is originally from Yemen. I was born in Germany and raised in
the USA sinceI
was 5. Islam is a religion for all times, for all peoples and all
places. Unfortunately, this is not reality in most Muslim communities
where they are divided up along race, nationality, ethnicity and sects
instead. In the US when a person says their shahada in the masjid there
are loud shouts of “takbir” but in most cases that is the most attention
that a convert will get. What most born Muslims do not understand is
that people who convert often lose their families, friends and other
important things in life. It is a conscious choice they make to embrace
Islam.

The Muslim community should rally around these new converts and
make them feel part of a new, wider family circle. Instead, the
community remains stuck in their cultural ways and if you do not fit
neatly into one of these social constructs you are left out in the cold.
The next time you are at your Jummah prayer notice how after Salat is
over everyone seems to coalesce according to which ever particular group
they are a part of. Palestinians here, Egyptians there, or if the
masjid is progressive you might see Arabs hanging out together. You’ll
see the Pakistanis hanging out with other Pakistanis, Bengalis with
Bengalis. If you don’t belong to any group you don’t really know where
to go and most often people are more than happy to let you stand alone.

This is one reason why many converts will try to adopt a certain culture
in regards to dress, speech or otherwise in an attempt to fit in.
During the holidays, many converts have lost their families, so spend
them alone. During Ramadan, it is rare for a convert to be included in
an iftar since these tend to be family events, or amongst circles of
friends, again broken down according to ethnicity. When it comes time to
marriage, the “takbirs” from your Shahada are long gone. Most of these
yelling “Allahu Akbar” because you became a Muslim would not consider
you for your daughter. The issue is especially bad for African American
converts because there is a serious race issue in the Muslim community. A
large portion of people who convert either leave the religion
altogether or make a choice to not participate in the Muslim community
because of these issues.

As I stated before, Islam is a religion for all
people, places and times. The Prophet himself (saw) took wives from
various countries and backgrounds. One of the biggest draw for many to
Islam is the raceless nature of the religion, but the community has
failed in this respect. We should all strive to follow our religion and
not our culture, not our race, ethnicity or anything else. Let’s strive
to remember what the Prophet said on this issue in his last Khutba, and
what Allah (swt) said in The Quran: “O mankind, indeed We have created
you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may
know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is
the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.”
49:13.- Marc Springer‪#‎NorthernVirginia‬